- Gert Fröbe
Infobox actor
birth_name = Karl Gerhart Fröbe
name = Gert Fröbe
caption = Gert Fröbe asAuric Goldfinger in 1964
birthdate = birth date|1912|2|25
deathdate = death date and age|1988|09|05|1913|02|25
occupation = actor
yearsactive = 1948–1988Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe (pronounced|geɐt fʁøbə) (
February 25 ,1912 –September 5 ,1988 ), was a German actor who starred in many films, including theJames Bond film "Goldfinger" asAuric Goldfinger and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" asBaron Bomburst and in "Der Räuber Hotzenplotz" as HotzenplotzFröbe made several appearances in big all-star casts in the 1960s, including the films "The Longest Day", "
Is Paris Burning? ", and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ". Due to his thick German accent, Fröbe was dubbed in some of his classic roles, including by British actor Michael Collins in "Goldfinger". He also appeared in "$" (1971) withGoldie Hawn andWarren Beatty .While Fröbe was a member of the
Nazi Party before and duringWorld War II , he aided GermanJew s by hiding them from theGestapo before 1945. Owing to his connection to the Nazi Party, the film "Goldfinger" was banned inIsrael until he was publicly thanked by a Jewish family. [Associated Press. (1988, 6 September). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DF123EF935A3575AC0A96E948260 Gert Frobe, an Actor, Dies at 75] .]Fröbe gained early fame in one of the first movies made after WWII, called "Berliner Ballade" ("The Ballad of Berlin", 1948), as a very thin man. That changed rapidly in later movies. In 1958 Fröbe was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German movie "
Es geschah am hellichten Tag " ("It Happened in Broad Daylight"), which was novelised by Swiss authorFriedrich Dürrenmatt . His role as an insane murderer of children drew the attention of the producers of the James Bond movie "Goldfinger" (1964) and he was finally to play one of the most remarkable and remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger.Aside from acting, Fröbe also was a prolific reciter of lyric poetry, especially of
Christian Morgenstern andJoachim Ringelnatz .Fröbe died, aged 75, in September 1988 from a heart attack.
Trivia
*In the film "
Joe Dirt ", actorChristopher Walken 's character, protected by the United States witness protection program, changed his name to Gert G. Frobe. Both Fröbe and Walken have played Bond villains.*Students on the campus of
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology annually celebrate 'Gert Fröbe Day' on February 25 to mark the end of winter quarter final exams.* Fröbe first appeared in the 1948 movie "Berliner Ballade" performing "Otto Normalverbraucher" (lit. Otto Standardconsumer), a German term equivalent to Average Joe or Fred Bloggs.
Partial filmography
*
Berliner Ballade (1948)
*Dunja (1955)
*Nasser Asphalt (1958)
* The Longest Day (1962)
*Goldfinger (1964)
*Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)
* A High Wind in Jamaica (1965)
* Triple Cross (1966)
*Rocket to the Moon (1967)
* Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
*Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)
* $ (1971)
* Ludwig (1972)
* Bloodline (1979)References
External links
*imdb name|id=0002085|name=Gert Fröbe
Persondata
NAME = Fröbe, Gert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = German actor
DATE OF BIRTH =February 25 ,1912
PLACE OF BIRTH = Planitz
DATE OF DEATH =September 5 ,1988
PLACE OF DEATH = Munich, Germany
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